Liberty take Steele grad Simmons with 26th pick

By Terrence Thomas :
April 14, 2014
: Updated: April 15, 2014 11:50am

Meighan Simmons was projected to be a first-round pick but fell to the New York Liberty in the third round.

Simmons

Kuster

Photo By For the Chronicle

Rice forward Jessica Kuster (30) walks off the court after breaking the school all time scoring record at Tudor Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, in Houston. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle )

Not even as she sat in the audience at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., watching as other players were selected ahead of her in Monday's WNBA draft.

Instead, the former Steele High standout who went on to a stellar career at Tennessee found comfort in basketball theology.

“It's like the game of basketball,” Simmons said. “If you let the game come to you, great things happen.”

The 5-foot-9 Simmons was chosen with the 26th overall pick — and the second spot in the third round — by the New York Liberty. She was projected as a first-round selection.

Simmons is the second player from the area to be selected in the league's draft, joining Churchill product Christine Flores, who was picked 30th overall by the Phoenix Mercury in 2012.

“God's timing is always the right timing,” said Simmons, a two-time SEC Player of the Year who this season became only the fifth Lady Vols player to score 2,000 career points, joining Chamique Holdsclaw, Bridgette Gordon, Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings. “It wasn't frustrating. I was just excited to be there. I'm very, very excited to be (playing) in a big city. It motivates me to continue to work hard. There are a lot of people in San Antonio who look up to me.”

The Greater San Antonio area's all-time leading scorer with 3,406 points during a career that saw her lead Steele to three straight UIL Class 4A state tournament appearances, Simmons was the lone player from the area taken in the WNBA's annual draft.

Rice's Jessica Kuster, a former standout at Reagan, went undrafted. The 6-foot-2 player bolstered her draft stock after averaging 20.9 points and 13.3 rebounds and recording 26 double-doubles this past season.

She was projected to be chosen either in the second or third round but likely will receive a training-camp invitation from one of the league's 12 teams.